Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Page Text Content

1: Slavery and the role that slavery has played is a key part in the history of nations throughout time. As work in a country increases so does the need for people to work. Slaves were treated as property rather than as human beings. Many people would be forced into slavery and were treated very harshly. Others may have been slaves because they owed someone money and were trying to pay that person back with their labor rather than their money. Although slavery has existed since ancient times, the act of forcing people into slavery and using inhumane ways to treat those people became more serious in the country of Africa in the 1500s. | The Background of Slavery

2: Above is a picture of the routes the ships took in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

3: The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade THe Europeans wanted to make their colonies more profitable and in order to do this they needed more people to work. Slaves were the cheapest way to get this done. In the 1600s the Europeans introduced a way to trade slaves on a grander scale. For the slave owners this was much more efficient, but for the slaves this increased the cruelty and harshness of their treatment. A triangular route formed known as "The middle passage" where huge numbers of slaves were shipped from one place to another.

4: The slaves were placed into ships where they were packed so tightly that there was hardly any room to breathe yet alone move. Cold, sick, hungry, and tired were just some of the ways these slaves felt on these ships.

5: The ships carried manufactured goods to Africa, sugar to New England, and slaves to the Americas. | Many slaves died on these voyages due to the inhumane treatments and unhealthy situations they faced.

6: Abolition of Slavery | Many people were trying to end slavery at this time. Some people known as abolitionists spoke out against this harsh treatment of people. Free slaves also spoke up and wrote about the horrors of slavery. In the early 1800s Britain banned the slave trade. While many people continued to trade slaves, eventually Britain swayed other nations to recognize this ban. Around the mid-1800s the United States also banned slavery after the Civil War. | Frederick Douglass (left) was a free black who spoke of the horrors of slavery.

7: Effects of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade | The effects of the slave trade included disrupting societies, causing wars and conflict, and bringing harm to the economy and the captives. Many groups of people fought against each other for slaves or goods. The economy suffered and took a hard hit during this time because of lack of crops being harvested and sold. | Captives also suffered and many died because of the harsh ways they were treated. All of these things were effects of the slave trade.